By Rita Cook
AUSTIN – As the Special Session in Austin was gearing up for reconvening this week, the Democrats were concerned about reports President Donald Trump had told the Texas Republican Congressional delegation that the GOP would be working to get at least five new red seats in the upcoming special session put in place for the state.
A statement issued by the Texas House Democratic Caucus was a big “no” on that idea “Greg Abbott is trying to use the Texas flooding tragedy to grab political power instead of answering questions about how his management failed. He said that people who want answers are losers. That is not how this works, Greg. Loser behavior is not taking responsibility when you leave communities without the resources they need. Greg Abbott is choosing in this special session to put lines on a map over the lives that were on the line in Kerr County. Abbott and the Texas GOP are doing this because they want to send more Trump Allies to Washington who will create more chaos that no Republican, Democrat, or independent voted for last year. Texas House Democrats are going to fight this and use whatever means necessary to do so.”
The Texas Tribune reported Trump was “advocating” for these new seat creations for the special session with the U.S. Congress.
What that means is the need to go back for a redo of the congressional district maps, which in turn would draw new districts that would push more Republican voters out of democratic districts in Texas.
This would affect the 2026 midterm elections and the battle the Republicans are facing to control the House.
A redrawing of the current Texas congressional maps could be the help the red team needs to push the blue further from a majority in Austin.
Trump said, “Texas will be the biggest one,” when he was asked about his thoughts on the number of GOP seats that might be added if a Texas redistricting passes in the special session.
Now Democrats sit in only 12 of the state’s 38 congressional districts, with one seat open since the death of Houston’s Rep. Sylvester Turner.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are both supportive of the idea of redistricting to be addressed during this special session.
Both have indicated they believe redistricting is necessary due to recent concerns from the Department of Justice over a handful of minority-dominated districts.
“There is some risk of making safe Republican seats more competitive, and I think that the incumbents are certainly worried about that,” veteran Texas-based Republican strategist Brendan Steinhauser said when speaking to Fox News.
Redistricting is not conducted on a whim and normally is done at the beginning of each decade using the most recent U.S. Census numbers. To decide to have a redistricting do-over is quite unprecedented without a logical reason during mid-decade.
Some members of Congress have suggested the idea to suddenly redraw a state’s political map at this time is a “threat to democracy.”
Rita Cook is a world traveler and writer/editor who specializes in writing on travel, auto, crime and politics. A correspondent for Texas Metro News, she has published 11 books and has also produced low-budget films.
